Movies and documentaries for Petrolheads – Vol.2

Written by: Ivan Santamaria (RS: @gasandroads)

Smokey and the Bandit

Smokey and the Bandit To start I can tell you that you are going to laugh for a while with this movie, and when it is over, you are going to say “I want that song as my ringtone”. I’ll leave it there…

The mythical Burt Reynolds gives life to the character of Bandit, to which they make a somewhat special assignment for him and his partner Fred: Pick up a shipment of Coors beer in Texarkana and take it to Atlanta, where the sale of alcohol is illegal. All of this must be done in less than 28 hours, otherwise you will lose the $80,000 reward.

To do this, Bandit, behind the wheel of a 77 Pontiac Trans AM, black with its unmistakable gold “Firebird” on the hood, would serve as a “blocker” and thus divert attention from the truck and its cargo.

Shortly after leaving Texas, Bandit picks up Carrie, a professional dancer who decides to run away on her wedding day. Following this incident, the groom’s father, Sheriff Buford T. Justice, along with his son Junior, decide to hunt down Bandit. As you can imagine, from here the pursuits and adventures are continuous, with moments that will make you laugh out loud.

Write it on your list of petrolhead movies, you’re going to laugh a lot, I assure you!

Vanishing Point

If you like the Dodge Challenger Classic, classic cars in general, or chases, this is your movie without a doubt.

The protagonist, Kowalsky, played by actor Barry Newman, owner of a car rental business, bets that he is capable of making the route from Colorado to San Francisco in less than 15 hours. Quite a challenge, both in the 70s and today, if we consider that the distance between the two cities is over 1200 miles. Behind the wheel of a white Dodge Challenger from 69, he experiences all kinds of adventures, both with the police and with very diverse characters, some of whom try to compete while many others will try to prevent the feat from ending.

I assure you that you will be entertained for a long time with this movie!

Grand Prix 66

It is not surprising that this film took Oscars to a better montage, better sound, and better sound effects. Without a doubt it has been (and will be) a cult film for all the petrolheads that pride themselves. With some impressive shots, he manages to completely immerse us in the F1 races of the time. As a interesting fact, it is worth mentioning that in this movie mythical Formula 1 champions such as Fangio, Brabham, Surtees, and Jim Clark appear.

Film suitable only for true petrolheads.

Bullitt

In the case of Bullitt, the main plot does not revolve around cars, but it has left us one of the most famous chases in the history of cinema.

Bullitt is a police crime movie in which Steve McQueen plays Lt. Frank Bullitt, who is in charge of protecting a former member of the Chicago crime syndicate who plans to testify against his former colleagues. After the death of the witness, whom Bullitt was protecting, he tries to find information about what happened. From here the chase begins between the 1968 Mustang GT-390 driven by Bullitt and a Dodge Charger R / T driven by the assassins.

The pursuit runs through the streets of San Francisco, leading to one of the best chases in film history. If you are curious and want to know in which streets it was recorded, here are some clues.

The italian job 1969

I could recommend the version they made in 2003, but if we talk about really mythical movies, the original from 69 is the one that interests us.

In the intro we see a Lamborghini Miura crossing one of the best roads in the Alps, the San Bernardo Pass, in Aosta, Italy. Accompanied by the song “On days like these” by Quincy Jones, it is undoubtedly an incredible film opening scene, even though the Miura and its occupant do not stand up well…

There are 95 minutes of humorous police moves, in which a gang of thieves, led by Charlie Croker (Michael Caine) plan to steal 4 million dollars in gold. Considered one of the best chases in history, the most mythical scene in the film is the flight with the booty in the 3 Mini Cooper’s, crossing the city of Turin, passing through such emblematic places as the Fiat Lingotto factory test circuit or the Vittorio Emanuelei and Ferndinando di Savoia bridges in Turin. The chase ends with the protagonists riding a bus to Switzerland through the Col de Nivolet, where they have an accident and …

I’ll let you see the end. If you haven’t seen it, it will surprise you!

Fangio

Netflix has recently released the biographical documentary of the 5-time Formula 1 world champion, Juan Manuel Fangio.

A little more than an hour and a half of reporting that does not leave you indifferent. since it mixes current comments from pilots such as Alain Prost, Jackie Stewart, Mika Hakkinen, Fernando Alonso or Nico Rosberg, along with images from the time both from the family’s personal archive, as well as from the television archives of the different countries where their careers were broadcast. It tells the story of the pilot from its beginnings in 1938 on board a Ford V8 until 1958 when he retired from competition.

For me, one of the most striking moments of the report is the utmost respect and admiration with which all these pilots speak of their teacher, Fangio.

You can`t miss this!